The Mindbuzz

MB:224 with Quetzalcóatl Band Melody and Mind: A Decade with Quetzalcóatl Band, Cultural Musings, and Comedy

April 15, 2024 Mindbuzz Media Season 4 Episode 224
The Mindbuzz
MB:224 with Quetzalcóatl Band Melody and Mind: A Decade with Quetzalcóatl Band, Cultural Musings, and Comedy
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

Ever found yourself at the crossroads of a hearty laugh and a profound thought? This episode is where the twain shall meet, as I share tales from our band Quetzalcóatl's open mic triumphs, my own personal health victories, and even a sneak preview of my stand-up comedy chops set for the Laughs and Low Riders extravaganza. Carlos, our go-to tech whiz with a surprise family connection to my aunt, joins in, adding a layer of serendipity and nostalgia as we reflect on our musical journey from the raw energy of Burning Bed to the melodic tales we spin today.

Strap in for a rollercoaster ride through the emotional landscapes navigated by men, the societal expectations that weigh heavily on both genders, and a leap into the evolution of human behavior that's bound to make you ponder. We're also tackling the heavier bricks of mental health conversations, the legal labyrinth surrounding immigration, and how societal pressures are sculpting our life choices. Plus, we're stirring the pot on cultural identity, tackling the ripples of gentrification in Mexico, and the struggle to keep local traditions untainted amidst the tides of tourism.

Culminating our vibrant session, we celebrate a decade of music with Quetzalcóatl Band, an odyssey marked by the release of our new album "Tlazocamati" and the anticipation of electrifying gigs at Bricks Bar and the Garcia Center. With a blend of humor, passion, and insight, Carlos and I invite you into a world where music is not just sound but a lifeline connecting us to our histories, our present, and the paths we tread into the future. Join us for this melodic and mind-stirring symposium, and be part of the rhythm that moves us all.

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"King without a Throne" is performed by Bad Hombres

King without a Throne Official Music Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNhxTYU8kUs

King without a Throne
https://open.spotify.com/track/7tdoz0W9gr3ubetdW4ThZ8?si=9a95947f58bf416e

Speaker 1:

The Mind Buzz, now partnered with Migrito Industries.

Speaker 2:

This podcast episode of the Mind Buzz is brought to you by House of Chingasos. House of Chingasos is a Latino-owned online store that speaks to Latino culture and Latino experience. I love House of Chingasos because I like t-shirts that fit great and are comfortable to wear. I wear them on the podcast and to the carne asadas. Click the affiliate link in the show description and use promo code TheMindBuzz that's T-H-E-M-I-N-D-B-U-Z-Z to receive 10% off your entire purchase. The cash saved will go directly to the MindBuzz podcast to help us do what we do best, and that's bringing you more MindBuzz content. Click the link in the show description for more. The MindBuzz is powered by MindBuzz Media. The MindBuzz is powered by MindBuzz Media. Mindbuzz Media is an on-site video and audio podcast production company. Have you ever thought about starting your own video and audio podcast, or do you have an existing podcast that you want to take to the next level? Mindbuzz Media brings a professional podcast studio to you. Visit MindBuzzorg for more.

Speaker 2:

May 4th in the beautiful city of Santa Anita, california, is Michi Lada Rumble. The MindBuzz and my Grito Industries will be out there under the media tent doing on-site interviews, and the mind buzz have been blessed with doing the judging of the michi ladas, may 4th. Get your tickets down in this description. Let's go. What is up? Mind buzz universe. This is your host, gill. Zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz. I'm good, I'm good this time. Yeah, yeah, I've gone longer than two weeks without being sick. Good, I feel great. I'm happy for you, I'm happy for myself. So what do we got going on in the world of the mind buzz and our little corner of the universe, little corner of the universe, um the weekly uh, open mic, uh, or chateria, okay, which is going pretty well, if you don't say myself why I kind of messed that up, I don't know if I don't say so myself.

Speaker 1:

I I?

Speaker 2:

I I'm not very good with words, which which is why I have a podcast, um, which is why I try to do standup on a weekly basis, uh, speaking of which, uh, if you love standup and if you want, can we pull that on the screen please? Uh, just this week, saturday april, april 27th, santa anita park is laughs and low riders. I've been booked for this event. Come check it out. It's only five dollars. Come on, guys. Dude, you can. If you're in the city, if you're around the the city of santa anita, come out and support. If you're around the city of Santa Anita, come out and support. If you're a oh, look at that Beautiful bald man, get that on the screen. I love the colors of these. Check it out on the screen here. Lots of great comics.

Speaker 2:

That Dude, johnny C from the West Coast Pop Lock podcast, also part of the my Ethel Podcast Network. We will be making people laugh along with, uh, the car show. There's gonna be food vendors, live horse racing and merch vendors. Come out and support your low riders and your local comedians. Ladies and gentlemen, anything else?

Speaker 1:

that's about it. We're taking a little break what do you mean?

Speaker 2:

in our life oh yeah, we need it.

Speaker 2:

There's a lot going on we did last month was crazy, so this month we're taking a little slow we're gonna take it a little bit slow. We didn't get, we didn't book that many events for uh for april, but you have your, your markets this week, right, or this this month uh, yes, this sunday we are having a pet pop-up, uh, at orchard, as well, which went pretty awesome too. Can you put that on the screen? Just, I just want to look at it because the video was really cool. There was lots of pets, there was a lot of people.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, go for it, too much coffee.

Speaker 2:

I love this podcast, dude, pull it up. There we go Pet pop-up. Look at that. Yeah, there was a vendor doing, uh, photo shoots for your puppies and cats. Uh, it was a pet pop-up, but we mostly seen dogs, right yeah, people were mostly taking.

Speaker 1:

I seen one cat.

Speaker 3:

Take you there, Efren.

Speaker 2:

One little cat. There was a vendor doing tattoos on dogs. There's a vendor giving out samples. Pretty cool, Pretty cool event If you're around the city of Paramount, that will be going on at Orchata Dia this Sunday right this Sunday 12 to 5. 12 to 5. Come say hi, come hang out, bring your dogs, bring your cats.

Speaker 3:

Bring your husbands, take your borzollis.

Speaker 2:

Bring your wives, bring your girlfriends, bring both of them if you want to treat them.

Speaker 1:

I know girlfriends.

Speaker 2:

Bring both of them if you want to treat them. I know, without further ado, let's get into today's guest of the evening.

Speaker 3:

There's one missing, that's okay. He went to get coffee that's fine.

Speaker 2:

Uh, he's making his own coffee back there.

Speaker 1:

Bring me a cup they're gonna see our movie magic no, that's fine, all right that's Get uncensored and unfiltered.

Speaker 2:

Laugh. These guys are super amazing. We had them on the podcast before C Potley and Jesse Two Feathers. They brought a friend with them today that's also part of the band. Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for quetzalcual band yeah, what up?

Speaker 3:

everybody yo, yo, yo what's up, man?

Speaker 2:

thanks for being here, appreciate it thanks for having us again it's always a pleasure thanks, dude. Uh, the last time you guys were on the podcast I had so much fucking fun, dude.

Speaker 3:

It was fun dude. Yeah, we had.

Speaker 2:

you know, we talked a little bit of ish here and there it was like two hours of just Mexican-American culture.

Speaker 3:

History.

Speaker 2:

History, yeah, conspiracies, pyramids, ufos, ufos, aliens. We didn't really talk about your band as much, but I I liked it.

Speaker 3:

No, we that's just our side gig. We just like to go talk about mexican, american and chicano history yeah that's our forte. We just sing and play on the side, give everybody a mind buzz put the microphone around and to block out. There you go, so people can hear you guys when you talk. You hear me, he's like.

Speaker 1:

No, he's like, there's a voice. Oh, he can't hear me.

Speaker 3:

Well, he can hear me sure, kid, sure, yeah, don't be scared, kid, there you go. Yeah, he's scared of big black things like that, yeah. So how you guys been been Been good man. We've been working hard. We've been, you know, organizing our plan of execution. You know we have a lot of things that have been happening. We've been writing a lot of music recording. We haven't been playing live that much. The years just started for us and we really wanted to focus on getting the album done. We usually set our ourselves, for ourselves. We set a time frame, you know. So we wanted to make sure the album was going to be out by may. So it it has, you know. So we've released a couple of singles in the last couple of months. So you know we're ready and excited to to start gigging and, you know, playing the music live.

Speaker 2:

Oh, your new stuff. Live, all the new stuff. Yeah, that's awesome dude, that's rad.

Speaker 3:

It's a little nerve-wracking. We played was it last month? The coffee place.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, at this coffee place in San Bernardino, the Birdcage the Birdcage Comics.

Speaker 2:

That's right.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, we did like like a little acoustic thing, oh cool. So it was all right. You know, it was a little nerve wracking at first, but I mean I was like, whatever, let's go do this. You know what I mean.

Speaker 2:

You played along with with Eros. Eros and Isela, yeah us three and, by the way, thanks for that, for the, the connection there with with Carlos, because dude yeah, man, he's been helping us out with our live comedy showcase and dude, they're awesome.

Speaker 3:

I appreciate that, dude. Yeah, I've known him for a while. Carlos is a good, good guy yeah very hands-on, very technical. I mean, he's a great sound guy, great musician, so he's a good guy, man.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, dude, awesome, I appreciate that the other two guys.

Speaker 3:

they're all right too.

Speaker 2:

Guillermo and Albert.

Speaker 1:

You know, it's funny the way that the universe works, because when Carlos was, here. Oh yeah, that's right after when we got off off recording um I mentioned that I was from paramount and he's like, oh, he's like that's where, that's where we grew up.

Speaker 1:

And I was like, what do you mean? That's where you grew up. And he's like, yeah, we grew up in paramount and then we moved up to you know where they're at now. So then, when, when we did the show with uh kill the, the one, the live podcast one at the shop, um, they showed up and then, you know, my family members always come out to support the shows and things like that. And he went up to the table where I was at with one of my aunts and he's like graciela, and I'm like how does he know my aunt?

Speaker 3:

they ended up being cousins right, he told me about that. Yeah, oh, he told you yeah, because we talked about we.

Speaker 3:

We, you know, we have our, our weekly talk, where we talk and say how much we love each other and whisper sweet nothings into our ears now, yeah, but he was like dude, it's crazy, like we're kind of related, and I was like really so, yeah, he told me about that, but you know, that's the way things work in this universe, you know, and he was telling me it was a blast and he loved because he loved doing that because of the area that's where he grew up, yeah, and he said he still has a lot of people, uh, that he knows over there. So I mean, it's awesome yeah, that was.

Speaker 2:

That was so weird. After when amber told me that I think it was like after the show we were, I was freaking exhausted from setting up, breaking down, and then she told me that story and I was like what the hell like that is that you can't get any perfect in that dude yeah, you can't. That's crazy man yeah, but that's how the world works, right mysterious ways.

Speaker 1:

We're all connected in some way. We're all connected bro yeah, we are, man.

Speaker 3:

I'm connected to these two fuckers, efren, is it? Yeah, efren, okay on the mic, don't be scarred there we go, efren.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, uh, so jesse twoathers plays the drums. Jesse, you're on bass guitar.

Speaker 3:

Efren.

Speaker 2:

Efren, what did I say?

Speaker 3:

Jesse, they do look alike, they do look alike. It's his dad and his son.

Speaker 2:

Jesse on drums, efren on bass guitar, gotcha.

Speaker 1:

I've just been that long.

Speaker 2:

This guy right here.

Speaker 3:

This guy right here. I've known him forever. I knew him when he was a little tyke. I remember A tyke. A little tyke, you know I used to give him little coins to what's a tyke, you know, like a little tyke, little kid. A little wookie, a little morrito, okay no, but seriously, I've known him for a while. We were together in another band.

Speaker 2:

Oh, okay.

Speaker 3:

In another lifetime, years ago, when I had hair and the name of the band was the Burning Bed. Do you remember that? Yeah yeah, you were there, right, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, kind of.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it was more of an alternative rock band kind of like a la muse youtube kind of oh, okay yeah right, yeah, that's what they, that's what they would tell us that we kind of sounded like muse yeah, we were a three-piece then.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, and it was more like and it was. He was in too. Yeah, this was the band.

Speaker 2:

Just three of us, just three of us. So it was totally different than what you guys are playing now, right?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, it was more work for me because I would play the guitar and the keyboards and sing. He would do backups to the bass and the drums. But you know, I've gotten much older and I'm just wary man. I can't do too many things at once. Now I can, but they don't pay. These guys don't pay me enough you gotta up it, dude.

Speaker 2:

You gotta up it. You gotta let us go go.

Speaker 3:

I'm not playing it go hustle, go back to the streets, hustle so.

Speaker 2:

So how was the acoustic set compared? Because you guys use a lot of instrument, like instruments in your guys's music. How did that work out and play out with acoustic?

Speaker 3:

well, I'm gonna be honest, I'm not a big fan of like playing acoustic in a band setting like. I'm okay playing with my acoustic guitar in my house or writing a song or even jamming in the studio with them with an acoustic guitar. But live, I don't. I don't know man, I, I, I don't find myself you know, I feel kind of weird, but, um, it was different.

Speaker 3:

We only had um four of us, right, because tristan was there. Yeah, so it was the drums, congas, bass and and guitar. So I mean, I found it kind of silly, to be honest, because I even I even told the organizer I'm like bro, like why are we going to be playing acoustic? Like, really, really, the only person that's going to play different will be me Because, like the drums, that's what we always play the bass he just took his bass, it's plugged in, and then the congas.

Speaker 1:

Oh, it was plugged in. Yeah, it was plugged in anyways, but it was like a violin-shaped bass like Paul McCartney, a la Paul, oh, okay. And then he has.

Speaker 3:

Oh yeah, that's right, you didn't take the Variax huh, Because he has a Variax, a Line 6 Variax, dude, I'm going to be the only one that's playing something different.

Speaker 1:

So when we went, I was just like I took my electric guitar, so I only played one acoustic, one song on acoustic guitar, Actually the first time that we did it the first time that we did the acoustic show at the.

Speaker 3:

Oh, yeah, that was in December.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I did play, I did use the Variax.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, but we had a gig in December in Riverside at the Packing House oh, packing House, packing House Brewery and that was an acoustic set too, and there was only three of us that day. It was Efren, me and Tristan on Congas, yeah, and I was on acoustic for the whole set. But I was kind of like buzzing it dude. No, I was, I was buzzed man, I was drinking really. And then tristan was like damn, you've been drinking before you're even gonna go play, because I usually don't and I was like I don't give a fuck so I don't.

Speaker 3:

It's like it's an acoustic set and then he was like tristan was like, yeah, but can't they really tell now when you, when you mess up because it's acoustic, you don't have the electric. I was like I don't give a fuck, I don't give a fuck. So we went up there and I did it. I did our thing. I think it was one of our best performances actually.

Speaker 2:

We were on point, there we go. It was the alcohol that had that. It was alcohol dude.

Speaker 3:

It hyped me up, it did. The other one at the at the the birdcage comics. That one, um, we did also take the keyboard so it's not a real piano you know. So that's electric too. So I played that and then I went to a keystick.

Speaker 2:

So what's the? Yeah, a grand piano yeah, so I.

Speaker 3:

That's why I told taking.

Speaker 2:

I can just see you guys taking a huge grand piano out of the van I do have any.

Speaker 3:

It Like I envision it. If that were to happen, like you know, like the olden days, like the Egyptian kings, like they would like carry the grand piano, the band and I would be on top of the piano, drink, eating grapes and stuff, yeah, yeah, that's what I would do. There you go, they would do all the work in store for us. It would feel like if you guys are in a band with, like a guy that just sings, you know.

Speaker 2:

Oh, the one that just.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, you know there's bands that have, like, the vocal lead vocalist, but he doesn't play anything right. So like when the show's done, he's just like okay bye guys, everybody else is lugging their shit. They're like no, no, I got to go.

Speaker 2:

I said yeah, rehearsal.

Speaker 3:

Puts the microphone in his mouth.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, he's gone now.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, he's like, hey, man, what I came, I did my job. I'm going to take my instrument with me. It's a fucking mic and shit, yeah, yeah. So I'd be like that, I'd be like that. But we from the other band he's the one that organized it I was like I'm going to take my electric dude. Well, actually I didn't tell him, I just showed up with the electric.

Speaker 2:

But what was the purpose of doing acoustic?

Speaker 3:

Well, because him and his band they do acoustic, they're all acoustic, they're all acoustic, right. And then Edo-ish ended up showing, you know, I mean Guill. And then Albert played the bass too electric bass and only Carlos was on the acoustic. So I was like fuck that, I'm not going to do that shit. So I took my electric guitar out and I just played it.

Speaker 2:

Was that the vibe?

Speaker 3:

he was going for. Well, when I talked to the organizer he was like yeah, dude, I think we should do an acoustic because it's kind of a small venue. But it really wasn't. It was small, but it the way he was describing it. I felt like we were gonna be like it's really tight yeah but it wasn't. It was nice big room, and then I seen it.

Speaker 3:

It was a pretty pretty good sized room, yeah, and then I went and um, I scoped out their instagram and they have like punk bands and they're like like full-on bands like you know, like, like this shit like that yeah, and I was like what are you talking about, dude?

Speaker 3:

so I just took the electric and I was like whatever, yeah, you know, and and it we weren't playing loud either, I turned the guitar, I turned my, my guitar to where the audience could hear the electric guitar, right, but I really couldn't hear what I was playing. I was just going by memory.

Speaker 1:

Kind of like what Kurt Cobain did on Unplugged he said I'm not going to be full unplugged.

Speaker 3:

He put a pickup and then he put the distortion on the acoustic guitar. Did he really?

Speaker 2:

For like who sold the world.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, he had a distortion pedal, so he just hit the distortion pedal on that and then for Come as you are he had the flanger, the yeah not the flanger, the chorus, yeah, you know, for the longest time I thought, uh, the man that sold the world was uh nirvana song, did I? Tell you that no did we. We didn't touch on that no no, it's a david bowie song.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it was during the pandemic I was. I was heavily getting into Bowie after his documentary came out on Amazon. Yeah, and I was listening to that album the man who Sold the World and I was like why is this so familiar? So I listened to the unplugged version and towards the end I've never listened to the song from beginning, all the way to the end, and you know what he says all the way at the end.

Speaker 3:

What is it?

Speaker 2:

That was a David Bowie song that was a david bowie song you're talking about the nirvana session yeah

Speaker 3:

right, yeah that was a david, so you never heard the whole song all the way through no dude, you've never watched the mtv nirvana unplugged not the, not from beginning to the end. I just watched the that video man that's like historic and like that's one of them really is. Kurt cobain and nirvana are one of my biggest influences yeah and him too, like I um, I actually picked up the guitar because of that, because of that nirvana was was coming up, and then there was this, this chick.

Speaker 3:

There's always a girl dude there was a girl involved, and she was like um, I was just learning how to play, but I wasn't really full on into it. And as soon as I found out she was into nirvana, I was like, oh, I'm gonna really learn how to play these songs. And and then when we came back from summer break, I was already long hair and playing guitar and she was like what the bleach hair, everything flannel.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, dude, I was the whole bit dude yep, I even had facial hair already, and I had a little bit of facial hair. Let it grow out little um salt patch yeah, yeah, efren, you were saying that the the weather really affects your mood. Yeah, right, yeah, those bands in seattle. I feel like there's grungy, they're're down. Sound came from the weather.

Speaker 3:

Right, well, you know, seattle is the like cap uh suicide capital of the U S.

Speaker 2:

Can you pull that up, amber? I want to see like the percentage on that. Now we're getting into the Googling stuff, dude.

Speaker 3:

I love UFOs. That's next.

Speaker 2:

That's next the. The percentage of, uh, seattle's. Next the percentage of Seattle. Yeah, because of the weather out there.

Speaker 1:

It is the highest suicide rate, yeah.

Speaker 2:

But the music that just came out of there in the 90s was so different than the punk rock coming out of LA at the time.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, that and the big hair band stuff that was predominantly in the airwaves of mainstream.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's true, rat poison who else?

Speaker 3:

He likes all that stuff. What other big hairbands are there?

Speaker 2:

The Guns N' Roses, LA Guns.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I can't get into that man Rat Rat, yeah. Yeah, I can't get into that man Rat Rat, yeah.

Speaker 2:

Seattle. The Seattle area suicide rate is 13.7 deaths per 100,000 people, the lowest in the state.

Speaker 3:

In that state, in the state of Washington.

Speaker 2:

Data show that the rural places have consistently higher rates of suicide than metropolitan areas. We see this in washington and among the 50 states hmm, you know what's, what's kind of.

Speaker 3:

I don't know if it's weird or not, but you know jimmy hendrix is from seattle, yeah same yeah, but he, you know he, his music's not grungy but he still has that heaviness. Yeah, you know he has that heavy sound, that that's not metal, but it's kind of like. You know what I mean. So I don't know if that's a coincidence or not.

Speaker 2:

Is that Wyoming Casper?

Speaker 3:

Oh dang.

Speaker 2:

Casper, Wyoming is a city with the highest suicide rate in the United States, according to financial website WalletHub. The data is part of the WalletHub's research in ranking the happiest cities in America. Then what is the happiest city? Casper, Wyoming. Jeez, I wonder what the what, why that's weird, Because it's in Wyoming yeah right what's in Wyoming?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, right what's in Wyoming Bunch of cow dung.

Speaker 2:

Cow dung and snow.

Speaker 3:

And country music. I mean, have you heard country music? They're always whining about something.

Speaker 2:

My girl left mine the happiest place in America besides.

Speaker 3:

Disneyland, disneyland.

Speaker 2:

God, do you guys like Disneyland? No, do you guys like Disneyland? No, do you like Efren?

Speaker 3:

We're going to make a new business called Tacos Mickey and now that the Mickey Mouse is like you, can you know you can use the 1930s Mickey Mouse because it's out of copyright now. So we're going to use that him eating a taco and put Tacos Mickey. Has it been 200 years yet? It has it just expired, like last month?

Speaker 2:

That's crazy how property like that can be available. Available. Yeah Well, I mean it should have been available.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, it should have been. Oh no, I don't know, it hasn't been 200. It's been 100. It's been 100.

Speaker 1:

200.

Speaker 3:

Don't listen to me.

Speaker 1:

Can you look it up? No, I know it's been 100 she knows what.

Speaker 3:

Are you a Disney fan?

Speaker 1:

what did you say? I don't need Google, my wife knows it all yeah, that's Amber is Amber a Mickey Mouse fan no, at least I don't know.

Speaker 2:

Are you a closeted Mickey?

Speaker 1:

Mouse, I enjoy going, but I'm not like crazy yeah, you guys don't have monthly passes, no, no, I used to oh no but a long time ago it.

Speaker 2:

Uh, I don't know just, that's just. It's weird to me. I don't know, like when I see 50 year olds with mickey ears.

Speaker 1:

That's just I don't know anything that brings people joy.

Speaker 2:

I don't what's, what's, what's? That's weird, because I'm uh, I've been practicing stand-up. What's your sign? No, what's, what's, what's? That's weird, because I'm uh, I've been practicing stand-up.

Speaker 3:

What's your sign? No, what's your sign? I'm a virgo. Oh, I'm a libra. Because I, my wife, says the same thing. She's like you don't like anything fun, like like, like last night she was watching the mass singer. I'm like I don't want to watch this shit. She's like this is why not? I'm like this is stupid I don't want.

Speaker 1:

don't tell me you like yell, yell at the tv. No, I don't, I don't, I'm just quiet.

Speaker 3:

No, I used to do commentary because my wife's a big fan of like the Voice and all that shit and I'd be like this person's singing flat, like they're not good, and she'd be like why can't you just listen and enjoy? I am listening, exactly.

Speaker 1:

And it sucks.

Speaker 3:

And then, from then on, was like you know, I'll sit and watch it with you, but I'm not gonna Give my opinion anymore.

Speaker 1:

This is why I like to watch TV alone. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

I leave her. I can't, we can't watch TV together. What's your sign?

Speaker 1:

Amber, I'm a Scorpio.

Speaker 3:

Oh, okay, and you guys are? You guys are supposed to Mesh, according to the I don't know, are we?

Speaker 1:

Some do, some say yes, some say no. But my mom's a virgo and then he's a virgo and then I have like five your dad are like no, my mom my dad's not a virgo my dad's a cancer.

Speaker 3:

Okay, my mom's a cancer.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, can I get you? Uh, where are my manners. Can I get you something to drink, do you?

Speaker 3:

need water or something water. We have dinner too.

Speaker 1:

They've been walking the do you have hot water?

Speaker 3:

we don't okay then I'll be all right.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I'll be all right, yeah I know a lot of people say like like the signs right, like, oh, what's your sign? And then people are like, oh, that's so dumb yeah but I I really do think that we're ruled.

Speaker 1:

mean, I guess it has to depend on what you believe, but I feel like we're ruled by Earth. Like why wouldn't we, like, when there's a full moon, when things happen like you were saying with the weather, like it changes your mood, your attitude, your everything, like why wouldn't we have something to do to be aligned with stars and you know? Like?

Speaker 3:

the cosmos. Yeah, yeah, I believe it. I'm 100 percent with you. I mean they usually say, like the emergency rooms that they find the highest. The busiest nights are like on nights that are full moon, because people are just going crazy out there.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I agree, yeah and I agree.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, and you know like the moon affects the waves in the ocean and stuff, yeah, so why wouldn't they affect?

Speaker 1:

us Exactly, and we're what like 90% made out of water.

Speaker 3:

That's correct.

Speaker 1:

Right. So how would it not affect us?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I believe it, man, I do too, I believe it. I think like me, like my sign, I get a really bad rep because I'm a scorpio.

Speaker 1:

You do, I do, but I also think that there are a lot of things that are true, right, but there's a lot of things that my either upbringing or environment have changed or channeled a different sense of what my sign is, and I think that that happens to a lot of people as well. It's not a hundred percent to the t right.

Speaker 3:

It also, you know, affects the day you're born, the month you're born, the year you're born.

Speaker 1:

All of that stuff affects, you know because people say like oh, scorpios, you're very vindictive. And I'm nowhere near vindictive, is she?

Speaker 3:

vindictive Jekyll? No, Are you vindictive?

Speaker 2:

I don't know what is the definition. Define vindictive.

Speaker 3:

By you saying that, I'm going to say you are vindictive.

Speaker 2:

What do you mean?

Speaker 3:

Because you didn't say no.

Speaker 2:

There's a threshold right. I don't know I don't know.

Speaker 1:

He doesn't seek vengeance, he doesn't go and act on it, but he'll be like. I hope that person falls.

Speaker 3:

He's like I don't like that, I don't like that person, because on October 7th of this so-and-so year, they dissed me.

Speaker 2:

I hope they run out of gas on the freeway.

Speaker 1:

Nothing too crazy.

Speaker 3:

I hope they move on to Seattle and commit suicide.

Speaker 2:

I hope they have a couple of drinks and drive home, you know.

Speaker 1:

That type.

Speaker 2:

Vindictive. Take a left on the freeway, yeah.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Stuff like that. But no, I wouldn't say I'm vindictive. It just depends, dude, because there's Are you getting hurt easy?

Speaker 3:

Are you someone that's a softie inside? You don't show it, but if somebody does something, even if they don't know they're doing it, and you feel kind of like I didn't like that, you get all in your feelings.

Speaker 2:

For a second, and then I reevaluate. Not for a second, I guess I do feel it, but I think about it at least, right.

Speaker 3:

Because, see, I'm a lot like you, gil, and your wife is a lot like well, your girls are a lot like my girl. Because I'll be like that too. Sometimes my wife's like calm down, relax, and I'm like, yeah, I start thinking logically, I'm like, okay, I'm just being a little whiny baby.

Speaker 1:

But I think men are deep down inside.

Speaker 3:

Men, you guys are like that well, you know, you know, you know what I've heard and actually science has has proved it, that men are the weaker sex. Really, I agree, and when I say the weaker sex, I'm, I know not physically. You guys are weak, not physically not physically, yeah, no, but emotionally, we wouldn I know. Not physically, you guys are weak, not physically. Not physically, yeah, no, but emotionally.

Speaker 1:

We wouldn't be able to bear children.

Speaker 3:

Well, no, not even that, yeah, but that's not even what I'm talking about. Like, I watched this documentary like 15 years ago on PBS and they had an experiment where they put, like what do they think they were like six-month-old babies. Like what do they think they were like six-month-old babies? They put boys and girls and they put the boys with the mom for five minutes straight and then they would move the mom for 10 minutes and the little boys would start like crying uncontrollably. And when they did the test on the little girls, on the six-month-old girls, they would be like just look around.

Speaker 3:

But they wouldn't even start crying, and you know that means something in the long run, because when you're born you're not.

Speaker 3:

When you're born, you're not being taught anything.

Speaker 3:

Really, by six months you don't really know how society works, the you know how society runs, or what is expected of you as a boy or a girl, whatever, or what your parents or your family expect, whatever.

Speaker 3:

You're just a baby. But that connection is so intense for the boy, you know. That's why in the older, well, that's why in our old tribes, you know, in here in the Americas, in Europe and in Africa and in Asia, they would take away the boy from the mother at a certain age, remove them from the mother and have this child go through a rite of passage that didn't involve the closeness of the mother, because the child would not be, would not grow as a man with the protection of the mother. You know, because with, with little girls, even in, in those, those days where you know how it was, little girls would just grow and mimic and see what the mom's doing and just this is the way it is, you know. But the little boy, you know he's, he stayed with the mom for a while and they wouldn't know what the dad's doing, hunting, how the dad is um, how the camaraderie or how they get along with other men and stuff like that, so they needed to be pulled from there.

Speaker 3:

And sometimes that pull would would was like a tear, because the boy's so used to the mom, uh, cherishing him and, and you know, being there at his every whim. But now you're out there and the dad's, like you know, fucking do this now yeah and, but it would be just a rite of passage, that is, now you're going from child to man.

Speaker 1:

We don't have that anymore, yeah that's true, and I also think, like men, you guys act off of more of emotion and, you know, a lot of times we say like, oh men don't cry, or oh men are, you know, emotionless. But I think that men are more emotional than women and it's that suppression of emotions that drive people to do, you know, I guess, crazier stuff.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I mean, look at Efren's face right now. He's going through something right now. He's like what he's like put the little violin.

Speaker 2:

He's thinking about it.

Speaker 3:

He's like no, I'm kidding.

Speaker 2:

Cue the sad piano song.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, he had that. Look, we were making him relive memories it's interesting, though.

Speaker 1:

It's interesting in in society and the way like biologically. Like, yeah, biologically men are stronger than women, but I agree with you. I think mentally we are stronger and and what, where it derives from, I don't know, but well, I think it comes from survival, right?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I mean, if you really think about it, we really humanity, mankind, we really haven't spent a lot of time out of the swamps. We really haven't. I mean, if you look at the amount of time like, for example, the dinosaurs lived and ruled the earth, and you look at the time that we've ruled the earth, yeah, it's a little speck.

Speaker 2:

It's small, it's nothing.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so we still have our reptilian brain with us. That's why people do commit crimes, commit rape, commit what do you call it killings, because we're still attached to that reptilian brain and sometimes we do go on instinct. Humans just do what they do on instinct, like an animal, you know. But, uh, you know, that's something that women carry, that's, that's part of their, their nurture and their strength to take care of their children. If, back in the old days, if the man died, he died because he broke a leg, he got killed. A saber-toothed tiger ate him and the mom was left with the kids, you had to step it up. You know what I mean.

Speaker 2:

So to me that makes sense yeah, what would be the, the equivalent to now, like there's nothing equivalent to that right besides, like education and school, I mean you mean a rite of passage? Yeah, college is a rite of passage. People think education no I don't think so.

Speaker 3:

There's a lot of people that are highly educated and they're uh, have no common sense well, it's a.

Speaker 2:

I think it's like a societal rite of passage that the new, this new society is saying, hey, they're going're going through X, y and Z high school or middle school, high school and then moving on to a certain education to program your mind for society, right. Like they're creating that type of rite of passage.

Speaker 3:

They're programming you, but it's really not a rite of passage because you're not. I mean, I guess you could say getting bullied and having problems at school or whatever, but those are minimalistic problems. I mean, nowadays you have a lot of schools that have these things where you can't bully and they have zero tolerance. I mean I don't really, you know, my, my, my youngest is in high school, but you know he doesn't have any problems like that. Youngest is in high school but you know he doesn't have any problems like that. I mean, I don't know, he doesn't tell me. At least he doesn't tell me, but he tells me when he sees kids fight in the campus and stuff like that. But I mean, nowadays I I don't think we really have that rite of passage.

Speaker 3:

I think right I think um we become a society where, uh, we're actually producing weak men, in my opinion, Because of education.

Speaker 3:

I just don't think there is anything that is pushing us to be hard individuals. Gotcha, we're in a society where I mean I don't kill an animal to eat. We're not in a time of war where we're like World War II or World War I. I don't see famine. I mean here in this country and in most of the first world countries we're not really going through hard times. I mean it is. I mean the economy is not doing well, inflation's out of control, but I mean we're not to that point yet.

Speaker 2:

I don't think we're to that point yet.

Speaker 3:

Gotcha. I don't think we're to that point where somebody can really say my six-year-old has to go to work and you know, this isn't the 1920s where that was happening. Those kids, if you've ever seen a picture of little kids working from the 20s, they don't even look like little kids. Pull those up, dude, they don't.

Speaker 2:

Their eyes look like they do not. They look like they do not. They look like little people. Dude, can you pull it up? I want to see the pictures of um children from the working days. They would work like 14 hour days. They work more than this fool.

Speaker 3:

Seven days a week this will don't even work more than that friend. He works four hours a day. Like I mean my back, my back hurts my back. I can't pick up my bass to rehearse.

Speaker 2:

The Industrial Revolution man. Yeah, there's something in that. Oh, look at that one. That one's like the most famous one too.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, look at their faces, man.

Speaker 2:

Can you zoom? Do you know how to zoom in on those amber?

Speaker 3:

look at that. They're working harder than you, effron. Look at that, dude.

Speaker 2:

Look at them yeah, whoa, they're all uh europeans. You know, dude, I've been saying that like non-stop have, you have you kind of? Kind of when I remember 25 of the time 25, 26 of the time when I before I refrained myself from saying uh, white people, I I say european. When I want to be funny, I say European.

Speaker 3:

Have you used that in your standup?

Speaker 2:

Not, yet I should, I should Heck yeah.

Speaker 1:

What are you talking about? Europeans? I want white people.

Speaker 3:

I'm just kidding, they're a bunch of Casper's. She said.

Speaker 1:

What do you think about all the like gentrification that's happening right now, like in Mexico or even oh, that is right.

Speaker 2:

What's happening, like in?

Speaker 1:

Sinaloa. Like my, like my family is from Sinaloa, or my dad's from Sinaloa, and you know we're known for banda right. Have you guys heard of of that? What's happening right now in Mazatlan?

Speaker 1:

Well, there's a couple of gentrification things what's happening there, but are you talking about, like there's two, well, go ahead, go ahead. So so the one happening right now in mazatlan because there's one in mexico city, right, yes, having the biggest problem, but then recently in mazatlan, what happened is that? Um, so there was an incident where one of the uh resorts that caters mostly to white people, americans mostly they were having this like I don't know why, they thought it was a good idea, but they were having this like classical music, uncut acoustic, like little you know.

Speaker 3:

Like a string quartet.

Speaker 1:

No, it was just one man with like one instrument, but they were outside so they were in the patio of the resort and right over the resort. So the resort sits on the beach. So the beaches of Mazatlan are known for tourists coming. Obviously, the beaches are a public place and there's bandas, so that's where you go and you drink and you get in the water and the bandas are going all night, you know, from morning to night. So as this concert was happening, a banda started playing out in the beach so of course the banda overshadowed the mini concert that was happening. So a lot of the people that were there started complaining.

Speaker 1:

They complained to and these were tourists they were all tourists so they started complaining to resorts, they started complaining to the government. Um, they started rallying more people from other resorts and it just created a trickle effect. Right, right and again. It was all curated by Americans and they were saying that you know, they come to the resorts to relax and not to be bombarded with louder music and pretty much you know saying that they didn't like the bandas playing. So these resorts, of course saying that you know the Americans are the ones keeping their resorts open said, okay, well, we need to listen to our guests. And they started putting bands, like, like bands like us, like us not bands, but bands on the bandas.

Speaker 3:

So they were saying yeah, they were banning them, they were trying to ban them from playing.

Speaker 1:

So they were putting like a time frame that was like four to five hours of just playing music, and then the rest was and people were saying, like this is our culture, this is who we are, this is who we are as a state, this is what we're known for, this is what tourists come for, and you're gonna listen to a couple of americans that are coming that don't know the culture and no saben disfrutar from the music. And people went ballistic. The bandas went on strike and they were going up and down the streets and trying to protest on not getting banned. Pretty much.

Speaker 3:

It's their livelihood, so I'm going to drop the bomb on you, okay. First off, I'm not a big fan of banda music never been do I like do I like some banda songs?

Speaker 3:

of course, uh, I grew up with antonio aguilar and all that stuff, so I do like some songs, but I'm not the biggest fan of that genre. Number two, I mean, it is what it is, man, they shouldn't be complaining, they. They want the money so cater to the tourists. I mean, let me give you this example A long time ago I had this friend, this European woman friend, and we were talking this is how long ago it was.

Speaker 3:

It was on Facebook she sent me a message because I was putting some stuff, I was getting political, and she's like man, what's up with you? I try to like your stuff. And she was a fan of our other band, burning bed, and I like your music and I've been to your shows, but the stuff you're putting up sounds like it's kind of racist. And I was like it's not racist, it's just the truth. I was just putting some historical facts. But then she said I went to kmart and I was really upset because they had, uh, announcements and it was like in Spanish like don't they know, this is the US, this is the US, why are they putting it in Spanish? And I was like well, first off, the area where you live. The demographics have changed. It's not the majority aren't Europeans and the majority aren't Africans. They they're raza, they're people from Mexico and Latin American countries. So the store is going to cater to the demographic of that area.

Speaker 3:

They're not racist. They're going to use Spanish announcements over their PA because the majority of the people are Spanish speaking. If you don't like it, then move to an area where demographically is more people that look like you. It's just that simple. The same thing in Mexico, Like in that situation, you're telling me it's a tourist place. It doesn't matter that their culture is Banda and that they're the one. If the people that are supporting that resort the majority of people are foreigners that don't want to hear banda, then they're going to cater to them. If the banda people don't like it, then the banda people then should support those resorts and the Mexican people should go to those resorts and spend their money. Then Y asunto arreglado. That's the only way to fix it.

Speaker 1:

I don't know, I don't think so.

Speaker 3:

Well, you know, that's the logical way. I'm Mexican, but I got to go with logic. That's the logic.

Speaker 1:

That's like me going to another country and saying, hey, I don't like the smell of your food, so you need to change it. It's ridiculous. No, because I think it's egotistical of us. I think it's egotistical of us going into another country that is not our country and ask them to change things. The beach is public. It's not part of the resort. It's a public area. It belongs to everyone that lives there. I understand. The people and everything. So if the resorts can find a different solution, then that's on them?

Speaker 3:

Are you going on this logically or are you upset because these are your people and you feel like your people are getting the short end of the stick?

Speaker 1:

I think it's logically, because I'm tired of people having to change things because white people can't appreciate a culture or can't come and be respectful to a culture who cares about money. What are you doing? You're going to erase music. You're going to erase a culture. For what? For white people, because they're paying.

Speaker 3:

That's not fair. I think the culture is not going to get erased. I mean, if I go to Watts, I'm going to find a lot of stores and a lot of things that cater to African-American people. I grew up in South Central and we in elementary school we did a whole thing on Africa and African countries and the cultures of Africa, and I'm not African-American, but you know the predominantly, the predominant people at that time there were African-Americans, so the school catered to them. We didn't study the Aztecs or the Mayas or the Incas or none of that. Why? Because we were the minority. That's the way it works. Usually, the majority is going to set the precedence of what's going to happen.

Speaker 1:

Exactly, and the white people in Mexico are the minority, not the majority.

Speaker 3:

Well, you know, like I said here in this country, whether we agree or disagree on how this country became the United States, it's a country on its own right. They have borders. There's a lot of immigrants that come in from Mexico and other Latin American countries and they're doing things the way he do things in their country. Sometimes it's fine and sometimes it's not right because that's not.

Speaker 1:

They're not abiding by the law I agree, but we're not talking about the us.

Speaker 3:

I know, but it's the same thing, though it's like. It's like the people that say, for example, uh, they shouldn't. You know, uh, I know a lot of people that are like, well, you know, this is our land, they shouldn't tell us to go back, and to an extent they're right, to an extent, but this is the land they shouldn't tell us to go back, and to an extent they're right To an extent. But this is the fallacy. Right here, when the Guatemalans and the Salvadorians cross into Mexico and a number of Mexicans not all, not all, but a number of Mexicans discriminate them, call immigration on them and they get deported. It's the same thing. Where is this at?

Speaker 3:

In Mexico, right when the Guatemaltecos, when the Belizeans, when the Salvadoreños crossing, as a matter of fact, in Tijuana, they're protesting that they don't want any Central Americans or Asians or Caribbean people in there. They want them out of Mexico. As a matter of fact, I have an aunt that lives in Leon, leona, guanajuato. She's saying that they don't like the immigrants that are there. They don't like them. A lot of Mexicans are against them, they don't want them there. It's the same problem here. It's the same problem in England. It's the same problem in Spain. It's the same problem in England. It's the same problem in Spain. Why? Because, unfortunately, we have borders. Unfortunately, unfortunately, most of the civilized world has conformed to the way of the European mindset that we need borders. Okay, mexico does it, peru does it, ecuador does it, peru does it, ecuador does it. Even the most native-looking countries like Ecuador and Peru. Their rules are set by European standards.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 3:

Just like in Africa. So if you're in Africa and you go from Zaire to Niger and you're there illegally, you're not born there they're going to deport you. It doesn't matter that you look like them. Now I know your situation. You're saying, well, it doesn't matter because it's, but they're catering to the tourists. They, the Mexicans, are not the tourists that are spending the most money there, so they're going to cater to them. Now they can change the law. It's, it's in the right. If the governor of that area, if the gobernador or whatever, and they put set laws in place, they can do it. It's their own country, you're right. But if they don't want to do it for money, then that's their decision too.

Speaker 1:

No, I'm not going against what is law. I'm not. I'm not going against what is law. I'm saying is it right or is it not? Ethically? Because, even looking in Mexico City, what's happening? They're saying that, because of gentrification, the salsas something so like so little, so minute, that we wouldn't even think salsas are becoming less spicy because there's more Americans, more white people out in those areas that are complaining that the salsa is so spicy. And now all these taqueros are changing recipes and making salsa less spicy to cater to what A minority group that's there. And that's what I'm saying. It's not whether I get what you're saying. I get what you're saying, that the tourist people are who are paying that area, but what I'm saying is that I don't think it's correct. I don't think that it's okay for someone to go and not understand, not appreciate, not anything, and start demanding change the way that they are. This is where I'm coming from.

Speaker 3:

But that's how change happens, isn't it? For example, right here in this country, my parents are like Quiero una torta. You know what I mean? They'll get a hamburger and they'll tell the people at Carl's Jr you guys put jalapenos on it Because they're Mexican and they're going to ask for that. And they're going to do it because they're paying for it, right? So if the gringo or the African-American or the Asian that are in Mexico are like I don't want the salsa too spicy, and the majority of the people that are buying tacos from that taco stand because it's been gentrified, are people that are not native, born Mexicans, then they're going to cater to that demographic. It's just economics.

Speaker 1:

It's economics. But what I'm saying is it's not OK.

Speaker 3:

But why that's your opinion.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and everybody that's there that are having issues.

Speaker 3:

Right.

Speaker 1:

This is circulating throughout everything. Mexico City, right now, even its own president, is trying to take, you know, put their foot down with gentrification, with everything that's writing people out of their own cities. With gentrification, with everything that's writing people out of their own cities. People can't afford anymore to live in their own cities and places that they grew up, that generations and generations grew up what's happening.

Speaker 3:

They're getting displaced out of their home and that's going to continue to happen. Nothing's going to change. It's happening here, it happened in downtown LA and it's going to Excuse me. The only way things are going to change is if people actually all unite and boycott something. That's the only way it's going to happen. Will it happen? Sure, it's happened before in history, but it doesn't happen often.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

It doesn't happen often. For example here I mean, there's people that are earning minimum wage or whatever now at McDonald's, 20 bucks an hour, but they only get 25 hours or 30 hours a week. That's not going to change. Now we've seen that the prices of the burgers went up.

Speaker 2:

Don't even get me started on that, it's economics.

Speaker 3:

It's economics Like the people are like, yes, I got a raise, but let's think about it logically you got a, you got a raise, but and, and, and you know it's another controversial thing I'm going to say You're 45 and you're working at McDonald's.

Speaker 2:

True.

Speaker 3:

I'm not putting them down at all, I'm just stating facts. I'm just stating facts. You're 45 and you're working at McDonald's. You got pregnant and I'm just making up a person. Okay, I'm making up a person.

Speaker 2:

I'm just making it up.

Speaker 3:

You got with your dude high school sweethearts. You got her pregnant when she was 17. Both of you one of you, let's say, graduated high school, the other one dropped out. You've been working in factories, you've been in and out. You haven't done anything else. You've been living with your parents or whatever. And now you, you know you're struggled all your life. You're still struggling. Now you're working at McDonald's, your wife's working at another place, maybe a factory. They're paying a little bit more than you, but you're still struggling because you're paying rent and you have three kids and you have three bedrooms, two restrooms and you're paying almost $3,000 and you can't afford it. I mean, you've made mistakes. You made decisions. All these things are decision-based. Nobody told you to get your sweetheart pregnant at 16. Nobody told you to do that. You did it on your own Right. Now that's another thing.

Speaker 3:

I think we've become a society where we don't want to have people take responsibility for their actions. We don't. People don't want to take responsibility and they want the easy way out and unfortunately, that's. We see that. But in our society we see people that can't afford rent. They're living out of their car. Some of these people are not drug addicts.

Speaker 3:

Some of these people made the best decisions that they thought they were making. Some of them have a big backlog of student loans that they still have to pay in their apartments or wherever they're trying to get to live. It's too expensive. They're working at Amazon and they're working at McDonald's and they're trying to make ends meet. And it's too hard. It's hard. Some of these people thought they were making the best choice. Some of these people don't have kids, but the fact of the matter is everything is going up and the wages are not matching inflation. And there's people that, to compound, have made wrong decisions or bad choices. To compound, have made wrong decisions or bad choices and now they're complaining that, hey, I'm 45 and I'm only making 18 bucks an hour at McDonald's and they only give me 30 hours a week and I have to pay, buy clothes for the kids and put gas in the car and do all this and they're in dire straits.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

I mean, what can, what can I do? What can we do? So now we're supposed to change everything to make it easy for you. I mean, it just can't work that way. We need to look at things realistically and logically and find solutions that make sense. And all of these solutions are not going to be a happy ending for everybody, right, it's just not. It's impossible even now, right, if, if, for example, if I, if I'm in the car with my wife and we're doing a long distance travel, we're going to vegas, she might want to listen to michael jackson for two cds, it's not, it's not my cup of tea, but I'm gonna be like, okay, I'll listen to it, but then after that I I'm going to put Nirvana on and we're going to. Right, you can't be 100% happy all the time and the decisions that are going to be handed down are not going to make you happy 100% of the time. That's unrealistic.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you're not going to make anybody happy all the time, Like everybody happy when there's a decision in Congress or a decision with wages. Somebody's going to have to suffer for any of those decisions.

Speaker 3:

And that's not even counting, like I said, the bad decisions that are being made. Right, you know, if you have six kids and you're a single mom and you have six different baby daddies, who told you to open your legs to six different dudes?

Speaker 1:

that was your choice.

Speaker 3:

You didn't get raped. And now you're mad because, cal fresh, the food stamps aren't enough. You're mad because you know the medical isn't covering for dentists for all your kids. You're upset.

Speaker 2:

I mean, that's your bad yeah, I guess it just boils down to to choices, right, where you're talking about choices and just the the like. Where do choices derive from like when? Because you see most of those problems here in in this, in the united states versus japan versus uh, china versus other. That's what you think that have a better.

Speaker 3:

But that's what you think. We don't live in China, we don't live in Japan. We don't see the news there every day, true? So we don't know. We can only assume Right and the same thing here. Right, like we're going to have the Olympics in LA soon, right, sure, right, right, sure, right. So there you know, I saw on the news that the mayor, she's saying well, we're going to move the homeless people for the longevity of the Olympics here and we're going to seal them off and then, when the Olympics are over, we're going to let them back in. I mean, what kind of solution is that?

Speaker 2:

Right.

Speaker 3:

That's a temporary solution, but the Anginos are still going to be pissed that there's tent homes everywhere. It's a big problem.

Speaker 2:

It has to do with education, it has to do with decision making and it has to do with common sense yeah, but what I'm saying is that, like, what's the difference between the united states, right, versus j Japan that has a lower homelessness here, higher wages or whatever? Let's just focus on one thing homelessness. Okay, right. When I was in Japan, there was no homeless people. Like, what's the difference? What city Number one?

Speaker 3:

what city did you go to Tokyo? I was in Tokyo. People Like what's the difference? What city? Number one what city did you go to Tokyo?

Speaker 2:

I was in Tokyo.

Speaker 3:

Did you go? Every city has ghettos in the world. Right, I'm pretty sure. Okay, did you go to the ghetto in Japan?

Speaker 2:

I don't know, did we Amber? I don't know, yeah Right.

Speaker 1:

Usually None.

Speaker 3:

Usually tourists are not going to go to the bad areas of the city. I mean, I took my wife to Mexico City and we were in the nice areas.

Speaker 2:

Well, we went to the Tenderloin in San Francisco and we were vacationing. But Japan, but Japan, right.

Speaker 3:

I'm sure they're not going to tell you oh yeah, go over there where the people that aren't doing so well are. You know? I mean, in a society you have the people that are well, well off and the people that are not. That's every society. You didn't go there, right? You probably don't even know where it's at Cause you're not interested to go there. You're interested in going to the Godzilla museum. Korea, south Korea, and Japan.

Speaker 3:

A lot less homeless. Well, maybe, maybe so, but I don't have the numbers. We would have to look up the numbers to see where the disparities are Right. But I'm sure they have their own problems, their own issues, right.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

That might be a little bit different than ours, but they still have their own issues. I mean, for example, in Japan they're saying that they're going to extinct.

Speaker 2:

The.

Speaker 3:

Japanese are going to go extinct in about 80 to 100 years because they're not reproducing Right. There's more old people, senior citizens, than there are children being born. As a matter of fact, they're closing down in a lot of hospitals the nurseries because women aren't getting pregnant and the young men don't want to get women pregnant and don't want to get married. As a matter of fact, I watched a documentary about three months ago on that. Japan is the trans. Population is plummeting. The same thing with russia. That's another problem they're having. Even uh putin came on and said that they're going to give the money to reproduce because they're not doing it.

Speaker 2:

Why would they want to reproduce anyways, because if you don't reproduce, who's gonna work?

Speaker 3:

right, that's true I mean the reason. The reason that they want them to, that they're not reproducing, is because it's expensive japan's expensive with the wages they're earning there I mean how much is one yen to one dollar?

Speaker 2:

uh, what, what was it like? Do you remember, amber?

Speaker 1:

It was like half Okay, and how?

Speaker 3:

long was this.

Speaker 1:

We went a little over a year ago.

Speaker 3:

Okay, because they deal with big numbers, right, like 2,000 yen. Yeah Right, that's like Mexico. It's like inflation is bad. So the wages that they're earning a lot of the men were saying it's not feasible to support. To get our own home, to get our own car, to have our children to pay for school, to pay for their school clothes. So why even get married? There's no incentive for it. What's going to happen is our wife's going to get upset because I'm not making enough money. We're going to happen is our wife's going to get upset because I'm not making enough money? We're going to get divorced. I'm going to end up in a broken. Our family's going to be broken and our kids are going to suffer. So why even do that? A lot of them have digital girlfriends, and that's what they're happy with, because they don't have to deal with it.

Speaker 1:

Or they go to those cafes where it's like you can just talk to a woman, hug her yeah those are not even it's not even go to a cat cat cafe too.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, and pet the kids no I I like those.

Speaker 1:

There was a lot of emotional things that were there to help people.

Speaker 3:

I mean to be honest. I would love the world to have no borders. I would love everybody in the world to get along, see each other for who they are and what they are.

Speaker 2:

But unfortunately we don't live in that world, Unfortunately we live in a world full of made up differences. What? Do you mean made up?

Speaker 3:

differences. You know cultures. Differences what do you mean? Made of differences? You know cultures, culture, culture is one of the most beautiful thing in on this planet, but it's also one of the worst things that we have, because the biggest thing that divides us is culture. Right culturally, that's what that's true, like you have. You know, a mexican person from mexico city has different tastes in music, food, um customs drinks than somebody from chihuahua, and they're in the same country I mean we see it here, right?

Speaker 3:

I don't know if you've heard how many times you've heard this country's divided in this country and it's one big country, but if you go to the south they think differently than we do. If you go to the east coast, they think differently if you go north. So culture is a two-edged short sword how do we get rid of it? We can't why, not it's it's.

Speaker 3:

It's what's made us survive. It's what's made humanity survive. You can't get rid of it. The only way that we can make it better is to go with an open mind and accept people for who they are and learn from them, and then also be open to learning from you learning your foods wouldn't it be better if there was like a universal culture? Yeah, but we're very far away from that.

Speaker 2:

That's what I'm saying, like in the next millennia, there's no culture, there's no borders, there's no monetary system.

Speaker 3:

There is no borders for first world countries Like Canadians can cross over and they don't have a problem. But if you're brown or black, To go to Canada. No to go to Canada or the US. I mean, canada did say that they were going to open their borders to Mexican citizens. But, man, to get a visa for Mexico, if you are somebody who's not, uh, economically set up, you're not gonna get a visa, man are they banning, like visas for people going into mexico, amber or something like that?

Speaker 1:

not banning them, that he said that he was gonna um the way that the president yeah the way that the us works with visas. So, like Mexicans need a visa to come to the US that they were going to, they were looking into creating the same system for right there. Yeah, you know the reason why they do that?

Speaker 3:

right, you know the reason that first world countries demand that certain countries provide a visa when they go there. You know what the reason is. Why? Economics, yeah, if you can prove that you make a good living in Mexico, el Salvador, nicaragua, nigeria, whatever, and that you have a car and you have a good job and that you have good finances you show your bank account, your savings and your checking they'll let you in. Why? Because England, the United States, germany, they know you're not going to stay illegally in the country. You're going to go back to your country because you're just here visiting. But really like, like, if I'm going to nigeria or I'm going to mexico and they're gonna ask me for a visa, bro, I don't want to stay here. I really don't. There's nothing I like going there and I'm proud of my culture yeah that's.

Speaker 3:

that's one thing I've gotten in problems with well, not, but differences with other people that when we talk about this, I'm proud of my culture, I'm proud of my Mexica descendants, my native culture, but I'm not proud of being Mexican per se. Why would I be proud of being Mexican? What has Mexico done, especially to their own people? They've mistreated their native population. They have killed dozens of protesters. They've allowed narcotrafico to go rampant. The government has sold out. The local governments have sold out.

Speaker 3:

What is there to be proud of? What is there to be proud of? The music? Yeah, I love the music. Yeah, I love the music. The people, like the regular mexicans you go, they're very amicable, they show you around, they're good people, but there's a lot of corruption and there's a lot of racism in that country, within their own people. So what is there to be proud of? I don't understand what, when you're waving the Mexican flag, what are you proud of? And a lot of people don't even know what the three colors on the flag stand for or what the eagle and the cactus stand for either.

Speaker 2:

What do they stand for?

Speaker 3:

Well, the red stands for the blood, the white stands for the Catholicism. I forgot what the green stands for, I think the independence. I don't know, I don't know if you could look it up, amber, I don't know but the eagle and the cactus, that's Tenochtitlan. That's the eagle that the Aztecs, in their mythology, knew was going to land on the cactus practice. And wherever that, wherever they saw that image, they were going to build their empire, which ended up to be being on lago texcoco, in el valle de mexico, the valley of mexico, which is which was tenochtitlan. But you know, that's how I think.

Speaker 3:

Now I also think, for example, here in this country, when they say, make america great again, I don't think america has ever been great either. When they say, make America great again, I don't think America has ever been great either. We've had a lot of issues for a long time. So I think, as citizens of the world and citizens of this planet, right, we need to look at things how they really are. And sometimes I think there are people that get blinded by their pride, by their following, the blind like oh, I'm proud to be this and I'm proud to be an American.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, but let's look at American history. Okay, what is there to be proud of? What have we done? We dropped two bombs on Japan. World War II killed millions of people. World War II killed millions of people. We took over Hawaii by force. We took Mexico by force. I mean, we've set up banana republics in Central America. I mean, what is there to be proud of what?

Speaker 1:

good have we done?

Speaker 3:

we haven't, you know. So, for anyways, I'm saying this because I know there's people like well, he's mexican and he's not proud of being no, no, no, no, I'm proud of my culture. But let's be reasonable. Let's point out the facts about this country and that country oh, oh.

Speaker 2:

Look it. In the modern age, the green represents hope and victory. The white represents unity, and the red they probably they changed that from the. You said white was what.

Speaker 3:

Catholicism. They believe in Catholicism.

Speaker 2:

And the red pays tribute to the national heroes who fought for Mexico over the years.

Speaker 3:

There you go. I was a kid White represented the common people from Mexico over the years. There you go. I was a kid White.

Speaker 2:

Represented the common people, I mean.

Speaker 3:

I don't know exactly, but I mean we got to. I think it's our duty to really think about. It's our duty to really think about what we stand for and keep it real. Even though a lot of people don't like when people keep it real, they say keep it real. But when you keep it real, even though a lot of people don't like when people keep it real, they say keep it real.

Speaker 2:

But when you keep it real, keep it one-handed they get upset you know the back in the day. You know they wore the. Uh, you know the simple white uh cotton yeah, oh, yeah, yeah, that's, that's where that came from.

Speaker 3:

I can't Just like that word gringo, right when the word gringo comes from. When they were saying that when the Americans invaded Mexico, the Mexicans would tell them, because they were wearing a green uniform, gringo, gringo. Have you ever heard of that? No, have you ever heard of that, amber?

Speaker 1:

No, I haven't.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, that's where the word gringo comes from, supposedly. Like go, go away yeah like go away and their uniform was green. So gringo Gringo.

Speaker 2:

So who was wearing the green uniform? The US, yeah, oh, because of their army colors, right.

Speaker 3:

And there's a gringo like get away the way Gil laughed. I'm going to use that in my stand up. I don't know if that's true or not? But I've heard that that's a good one.

Speaker 2:

I like that. I like that version of history a lot better than what the original is from, but I get it. I don't know, dude, it's just so weird. Google's not always truth. What would you say? I'm not, but I get it. I don't know, dude, it's just so weird Google's not always truth.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. What would you say, google's not always truth.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, that's true, that's true too, yeah.

Speaker 2:

But I believe. Google more than I believe you, you know in your stand-up.

Speaker 3:

You can ask if anybody's from Rat Mouth Florida. There's a Rat Mouth Florida, boca Raton right.

Speaker 1:

Boca Raton. That's right, there you go, it just sounds worse.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, Rat Mouth.

Speaker 1:

Florida. So you guys have a new CD right or album out.

Speaker 3:

Yes, we do. The name of the album is Tlazocamati. Can we all say it together Gil's eyes are turned to fearful.

Speaker 2:

Right now Tlazocamati.

Speaker 3:

That's good enough.

Speaker 1:

That sucked. What was it?

Speaker 3:

Tla Tlazoc it. Tla Tla, so kamati.

Speaker 2:

Tla so kamati.

Speaker 3:

Tla so klamato.

Speaker 2:

Tla so klamato.

Speaker 3:

No tla so kamati.

Speaker 2:

Tla, so klamati.

Speaker 3:

Tla so.

Speaker 2:

Tla so, kamati Tla so kamati. Tla so kamati. Oh, there's no L right there. So tla so kamati, Show it. Oh, there's no L right there.

Speaker 1:

So Clasocamati, show it Go. Show the album Clasocamati L silent.

Speaker 2:

This way Nice.

Speaker 3:

Yeah yeah, clasocamati means thank you. And now what? Oh, okay, oh, thank you. So, yeah, it's pretty much this album, really thankful for all the fans, the people who have been following us on Spotify and on our website, and we're glad that we've lasted this long. You know we don't have we're not anticipating, you know stopping anytime soon. You know, you know they say the average length of a band is about three to five years, so we started in 2016. So pretty soon here it'll be our 10 year anniversary.

Speaker 3:

So, yes, we have had different incarnations of the band with different members, but the band, the core of the band, has always remained the same. We're moving forward and we're just thankful. Man, we want to thank us fans, the music gods, the ask, the gods, the kids, everybody, you you know all the podcasts we've been on all the friends, all the family members, all the people who came out of nowhere and just showed love for the music, who became fans for because they love the music, and we appreciate that. We know that having a band and maintaining a band is not easy, so we're just thankful.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, 10 years is a long time to do anything, dude.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

That's awesome bro.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, man.

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah, dude.

Speaker 3:

I just celebrated seven years of marriage and 10 years of being with my wife. That's been a long time, nice.

Speaker 2:

Congratulations, congrats, dude, seven years.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I was telling you, I'm getting itchy. Seven-year itch is coming up. Man, the what Seven-year itch? You never heard of that. No, you know what that is.

Speaker 1:

What are you itching for?

Speaker 3:

I know, Changing her hour. You guys have never heard of the seven-year itch.

Speaker 1:

No, they say that.

Speaker 3:

No, well, they say that if you're married for seven years, you get the seven-year itch. That's when, like one of the people cheats.

Speaker 2:

Oh, because they're tired it's been.

Speaker 3:

Whoa, you heard her here first. You never heard of that.

Speaker 1:

No, you never heard of that. What the hell that's a thing. Don't even be getting any ideas.

Speaker 2:

Look it up. We're not married yet.

Speaker 1:

I'm not going to look shit up seven year itch.

Speaker 3:

She said I ain't looking shit up let's keep going.

Speaker 1:

We're not putting that bad juju in there seven year itch.

Speaker 2:

He's going to look it up when he's in the restroom seven year itch.

Speaker 3:

He's gonna look it up. When he's in the restroom on the toilet, he's gonna look it up if he doesn't know yeah.

Speaker 2:

Siri, what's seven year?

Speaker 1:

itch he's gonna be getting the poop itch, the poop itch the what the seven year, poop itch. Oh, let's see happiness in marriage or long? Term romantic relationship.

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah, so it does have to do with a married person who has a 7 year itch is feeling unhappy with their marriage after 7 years and is considering having a sexual relationship with another person 7 year itch.

Speaker 1:

I had no idea. That's what it meant. I've heard that term but I didn't you know.

Speaker 3:

With another person Seven year itch. I had no idea that's what it meant. I've heard that term but I didn't. You know, half of all marriages end in divorce and, within that context, most marriages last between five to seven years and 75% of all marriages the divorce is initiated by the woman.

Speaker 2:

Ooh, all right, yep.

Speaker 3:

That's why they're smarter than men. They're like get me the hell out of here.

Speaker 2:

They know when they have a threshold and they know when to throw in the towel. To throw in the towel, Heck yeah dude. But you guys are not going to divorce, right? You guys are going to keep going. When are you going to celebrate your 10-year anniversary?

Speaker 3:

It's going to be 2026 for the band 2026. So we're a couple of years away.

Speaker 2:

Are you guys planning anything for that?

Speaker 3:

Well, we plan on releasing. The goal for us is to release an album a year and on top of that maybe three to four singles that are not included in the album like I said, we're already working on on a single and, uh, hopefully we'll release it this summer.

Speaker 3:

we just got to get it down, pat how we want it, and so, yeah, man, it would be great. I mean, we have the studio, uh, we just need to find the time to get together, rehearse all the songs, get them done, uh. But this, this album also, we're really proud. Majority of the songs, if not all, just have a positive message of of, um, you know, not giving up. You know overcoming, overcoming obstacles, like one of the songs here is called somos mas we are more, and it's all about just, you know, surviving, not letting uh the challenges in life uh bring you down. You know, uh, get up, dust yourself off, move forward. So you lost the job, so you got divorced, so your car got flat, whatever.

Speaker 3:

I'm a true believer that when one door closes, another one opens. I've just always had that mindset that there's no reason for you to give up. If you're here, you're a survivor already. You know, if you're here, you're a survivor already. You know there's more people that will never be born than the people that are going to be born till the end of humanity, you know, if you really think about it. So just being here is a gift. Don't let this gift pass you by. Do what you want to do. Don't say, but Don't be one of those 75-year-olds being like coulda, shoulda, woulda Do it. You might not always succeed, you might not always achieve what you set out to achieve, but if you did it, then you can be happy with yourself. Then you can be happy with yourself, and when it's time to go to move on to the next plane of this trip, you will die happy because you know you did what you wanted.

Speaker 2:

You know that you'd lived fearlessly. Hell yeah, dude. Thanks for coming out and doing the podcast. Appreciate it, efren. It was nice meeting you. Jesse, thank you. Go ahead, tell us where we can find you and what you got coming up alright.

Speaker 3:

Wwwquetzalcoatbandmusiccom is our website. You can find all our social media links from our website also. We have a gig April 19th in Maywood at the Bricks Bar and we also have our album release party on May 4th at the Bricks Bar and we also have our album release party on May 4th at the Garcia Center in San Bernardino.

Speaker 2:

Hell yeah, that's April 19th, you said.

Speaker 3:

That's right. That's going to be a Friday night, that's that one we posted right. Yeah, we're going to be playing with Gabriela Penca, the Munchies, negra Azul, so a bunch of ska and cumbia and punk.

Speaker 2:

Oh, okay, so it's going to be dope. Awesome, and that's at the Bricks Bar in Maywood, april 19th.

Speaker 3:

Yes, sir.

Speaker 2:

Hell yeah, dude, you got anything else.

Speaker 3:

That's it, man. Just I want to make sure everybody has a blessed rest of the day and rest of your life.

Speaker 1:

Heck yeah, Amber do we got anything? No, I think what we said earlier.

Speaker 2:

No, just April 27th at Santa Anita, come check it out. Laughs and Lowriders. It's kind of funny because we were talking about Lowrider and the Lowrider culture the last time, april 27th Only $5. Come out, let's get drunk in the parking lot and come in, let's get stupid and check it out inside. Let's see what else. May 4th, santa Anita Michi Lada Rumble Michi. Let's see what else. May 4th, santa Anita Michilada Rumble, miche, miche.

Speaker 1:

Michilada.

Speaker 2:

Michilada.

Speaker 1:

There you go.

Speaker 2:

Michilada Rumble Come out and support.

Speaker 3:

Did I say it right? Say Tlaxocamati five times fast.

Speaker 2:

Tlaxocamati, tlaxocamati, tlaxocamati, five times fast Tlaxocamati. Tlaxocamati, tlaxocamati El Cucuy Heck yeah, come out, santa Anita, come out, it's going to be fun. May 4th, the.

Speaker 3:

Mind.

Speaker 2:

Hell yeah.

Speaker 3:

We got political today, bro.

Promotions and Updates With Quetzalcóatl Band
Musical Connections and Acoustic Performances
Discussing Music, Suicide Rates, and Astrology
Male Emotional Suppression and Evolution
Modern Society and Gentrification
Cultural Conflict and Resort Bans
The Impact of Borders and Gentrification
Challenges of Making Life Choices
Cultural Identity and Global Perspectives
Celebrating a Decade of Music
Upcoming Gigs and Events Update